Musings of a TV Producer Turned MBA Student

Category: Musings

Dusting off this post from the drafts bin because it brings to mind a couple of conversations I’ve had recently with folks applying to MBA programs about how to frame their experience in their applications. (No, it’s not just an excuse to share this oldie-but-goodie video of Taraji Henson behind the scenes on Empire.)

Oh hey there. So, first things first, I’m SUPER sorry about totally falling off the face of the earth and not posting during first year. Things happened, man, and they happened fast, and there were just so many of them.

So now that that’s out of the way, here’s a super-quick update about how the first year of business school went: I stretched and challenged myself, met a ton of amazing and surprising people, learned so many new things, visited places I never thought I’d go, and ate a lot of delicious meals in Chicago. If I can get my act together (let’s hope), I’ll post soon about some of those experiences.

…I also kind of changed course, career-wise. I applied to business school thinking that I would go into entertainment marketing, but instead I recruited for (and last week signed a full-time offer in) management consulting. Whaaaaaaaat?

Oh hey there! Greetings from a lovely Oakland airport hotel, where I’m spending the night before heading to LA for the start of Thanksgiving break. For those of you who aren’t traveling or who don’t live in the Midwest, we had our first snowstorm of the year yesterday, after a long fall of temperatures in the 50s. Winter is here, y’all. And it doesn’t give a crap about our travel plans.

On the upside, I met a very nice Kellogg grad (class of ’82) who is also stranded at this airport hotel, and the staff here is very nice, even though I look (and feel) a little (a lot) crazy.

Also on the upside, having a little break from my plans is giving me some time to write! I’ve been dying to tell you about so many things, but this MBA thing really is as hectic as people say it is, and it’s been very hard to find time to reflect and write. But that changes tonight!

Oh man, you guys. This is wonderful. Netflix has released the results of a study it did of when people get hooked on TV shows. They defined the “hooked episode” as the episode after which 70% of viewers went on to complete the first season of that show.

The big news from the study (which isn’t really all that surprising, intuitively):

“In our research of more than 20 shows across 16 markets, we found that no one was ever hooked on the pilot. This gives us confidence that giving our members all episodes at once is more aligned with how fans are made.” –Ted Sarandos (emphasis mine)

Yesterday was the first day of orientation (CIM — Complete Immersion in Management) at Kellogg. There is already so much I want to write about my experience at Kellogg so far, from their Social Impact Days event to the people to the KWEST trip I just went on to Peru (more on that soon).

But I am just so jazzed about this first day of orientation that I need to write about it RIGHT NOW. We were assigned our sections for fall quarter (go Big Dogs!) and listened to some speeches, including one by Dean Sally Blount, undoubtedly the most badass woman in the MBA dean game. We also did a choose-your-own-adventure leadership simulation based on a climb up Mt. Everest.

For me though, the very best part of all was during Kellogg’s MBA-famous “One of You” speech, delivered by Kate Smith, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. In this speech, she highlights the diversity of the incoming class by listing off some of our classmates’ accomplishments. There were so many impressive achievements, from starting non-profits benefiting underprivileged children, to convincing Melinda Gates to invest $100M in a development project, to Ironman triathletes and professional musicians.

Then… “One of you interviewed cast and designed challenges as a producer on shows like The Biggest Loser and Joe Schmo 3.” You guys…THAT’S ME! And I’m so excited to tell you about this because it goes to show that we non-traditional people really are unusual and valuable and totally brag-worthy. (For real though, I’m even in the Kellogg news feature about the speech.)

So if you’re a non-traditional candidate working on your applications or looking into applying, keep your head in the game. It’s a lot of hard work, and we have more to prove than traditional candidates, but there are programs out there that want you and students out there who will be so excited to have you as one of them.

Last week, I hopped on the phone with a non-traditional applicant (who works in fashion!) to chat about all things MBA. We ended up talking about how people don’t apply to business school because everything’s oh-so-perfect, but because they realize that they’re itching for more — a higher salary, a career change, something new.

And it got me thinking…If you’re reading this blog, you’ve probably decided to pursue your MBA. You’ve decided you want more. And that is f*cking awesome.